vatheon | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Kurloz and Sufferer
When: After this.
Where: Plaza
Style: brackets!
Status: Closed.

[As soon as Sufferer waves, Kurloz breaks off from his staring. Whatever uneasiness Sufferer felt under Kurloz's stare, there's certainly no sign of it any more, he looks pleasant and pleased to see the other troll, and even comes to meet him halfway across the distance.

He nods a response to the thanks, then glances around the Plaza. Since Sufferer invited him here for tea, he assumes they'll be going somewhere for it, but, obviously, he isn't too familiar with what the restaurants around here provide! Sufferer will have to lead, here.]

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[Sufferer lets Kurloz out of his grip without any fuss; he hadn't thought about how Kurloz talks with his hands, and didn't realize taking his elbow would be a problem. ~~check your privilege, Sufferer, gosh!~~]

Oh right, Mituna is a your moirail. He told me about that. [Ngl, he's a little unclear on how that particular pairing ended up happening, but he's not rude enough to question it.] I'm sure that makes life here easier, having him around.

[It takes him longer to answer the GHB question.]

The Grand Highblood and I have our differences. I'm not unwilling to talk to him, but he doesn't seem to have much use for me. We tend to avoid each other.

[Sufferer is really not doing well about being considerate, today. It's still better than Kankri-ing all over the place, in Kurloz's opinion.

He nods enthusiastically. Usually it's him calming Mituna down, but there have been some instances- some curses- that have led to him needing some papping. There is a good reason he's kept Mituna around all these sweeps.

That is a less negative response than he would have expected, considering the way Gamzee reacts about his ancestor. It's definitely interesting, and it's filed away somewhere in Kurloz's brain for later consideration. For now, he just nods sympathetically. Even he doesn't see his altself very often.]

It's not that I don't want to get to know him better, but he blocks me out.

[That's enough on the Grand Highblood, at least for now. They've arrived at the tea shop, and Sufferer heads towards his favorite table, settling in to it and then digging into his sylladex.]

Would this help at all?

[He offers Kurloz a straw.]

[Kurloz nods enthusiastically, and takes the straw. He has a couple of them in his miracle modus, but that's no reason not to take something that's being offered!

That done, he indicates a menu, then points to Sufferer. He's the one who knows this place, Kurloz is going to trust his judgement on this one. Just because his former matesprit had a land full of tea doesn't mean he knows much about it.]

[Sufferer smiles, pleased that his gift has been well received. Then he turns his attention to the menu.]

Do you prefer sweet teas or do you like things with a more bitter taste? [He glances over.] Uh... thumbs up for sweet, down for bitter?

[Kurloz's answer is an enthusiastic thumbs up. After spending time with Meulin, he's come to favor it. Not to mention all of the shitty soda he drinks! The answer is probably kind of obvious.]

Got it!

[Sufferer flags down a waitress and places an order for two pots of tea with extra milk, sugar and honey, and then turns back to Kurloz. He folds his hands neatly in front of him and smiles at the clown.]

Can you teach me how to understand you when you use your hands to speak?

[Sufferer wants to learn all the things, and this seems like a good place to start.]

[He nods, echoing the enthusiasm Signless is showing, then makes a little downward pointing gesture with one finger. Does Signless want to start learning here and now? Then he imitates a clock hand, and a rising and setting moon several times over. It takes a while to learn.]

[Sufferer's brow furrows a little as he pieces that together, but then it clicks and he gets it.]

Oh, I didn't expect to start understanding right away! But we've got nothing but time, right?

[He imitates--poorly--the gesture Kurloz made to show the clock hand.]

Does that mean time?

[Kurloz gives a little "kind of" gesture. He repeats the clock mime, but then goes through the actual hand signs, the letters to spell out "time" the way he does with Meulin.]

[Sufferer very slowly--and poorly--imitates the gestures.]

Like that?

[Kurloz shakes his head, then demonstrates again, more slowly. That done, he reaches out toward Sufferer's hands, intending to show him the proper shapes to make.]

[Sufferer has no problem letting Kurloz take his hands, and tries again to make the sign, moving slowly and trying to be very precise.]

Is that better?

[Well, it's not the best, but it is better, so he nods slowly. Then, afterward, he frowns and turns over Sufferer's hands in his own. Something seems kind of weird here, to him.]

Huh? Oh!

[Sufferer takes his hands back, and peels one glove down. The leather gloves go halfway up his forearms; they need to, to cover the scars that run up from his wrists. Starting at where his wristbones should be, his hands are made of metal, grafted onto the ends of his arms. He pulls the glove down far enough for Kurloz to see that, then rolls it back up.]

My real ones... they weren't any good. After how I died. So Darkleer made me a new pair.

[Kurloz nods sympathetically, then pats Sufferer's hands lightly with his own, once the gloves are back on. Then he tilts his head, wiggles his own fingers, and gestures back at Sufferer's own hands. Are they still plenty flexible and responsive?]

[Sufferer looks blankly at Kurloz for a moment before what he's trying to communicate sinks in.]

Oh, yes, I can still move them fine. I can play the guitar with them and everything.

[He gives an encouraging smile, and a thumbs-up. That sounds completely cool. Maybe he can get Sufferer to play for him sometime.]

[Sufferer smiles back and mimics the gesture.]

I already know what this one means!

[Kurloz nods. That's one gesture that's easy to get.

But they were doing lessons! Kurloz repeats the signs for "time" again. Can Sufferer do them better this time?]

[Very carefully, Sufferer tries the gesture again, after watching Kurloz closely.]

Time.

[This time, it's much better, and Kurloz gives him a thumbs-up for it. He likes it! It's nice to hav a good learner when he actually does bother to teach someone how to sign.]

Excellent!

[Sufferer likes learning new things, and he repeats the gesture several more times until he's sure he'll remember it. He even gets out his SFC and carefully records himself making the sign and saying "time" in case he forgets.]

Can you show me another one?

[Kurloz nods. Then he points at Sufferer- because the next thing he's going to sign is Sufferer's title.]

Me? Are you going to do the sign for "me"? Or something else?

[Either way, he's ready!]

[Kurloz shakes his head, but then demonstrates the sign for me. It's a simpler one, so it's easier to get out of the way. And they can reach Sufferer's name by process of elimination.]

Uh...

[Now he's confused! He tries the sign anyway.]

I'm sorry, I don't know what I just said.

[Well, so much for that.

Time to have some fun, then! Kurloz mimics shock- he widens his eyes, and covered his mouth with one hand, as if to show "I can't believe you just said that."]

[Sufferer falls for it, hook, line, and sinker.]

Oh no! I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to say anything bad!

[Keeping his hand over his face, Kurloz leans forward, and starts making a negative gesture with his other hand. His shoulders are shaking. It's from laughter, though considering that it's silent, it might be hard for signless to tell.]

[Waaaaait a minute... it's slowly dawning on Sufferer that he's been had.]

I didn't say anything bad, did I?

[He gets his laughter under control a moment later, and shakes his head in answer. Sorry, Sufferer, but he couldn't resist. You really walked into that one.]

[It doesn't take long for Sufferer to see the humor in the situation, and he laughs.]

You, sir, are a rascal.

What did I really say?

[And this is when Kurloz decides Sufferer ~~would make a good minion~~ is a good guy to hang out with. He hunts down a pencil and a napkin, writes out "me" on it, then shows it to Sufferer.]

Me.

[Sufferer repeats it, practicing the gesture a few more times until he thinks he has it, then shows Kurloz his progress.]

Like this?

[He nods slowly, and demonstrates it again. Well, it's better than the kinds of first attempts Sufferer did a few minutes ago.]

[Sufferer practices it a few more times until he feels he's gotten it right, recording the motions with his SFC again.]

Okay, I think I've got it. What next?

[Well, hopefully the next one will be easier to explain. He points to himself and signs "me," then points toward Sufferer and signs "you."]

[Sufferer practices the new gesture a few times, then looks up, his expression mischievous. He makes the sign for "me" and touches his own chest, then makes the new sign and points at Kurloz.]

You?

[He nods and gives a thumbs up. About time you caught on to that, Sufferer.]

Got it!

[He only feels a little silly for the misunderstanding.]

How do you say friend?

[Kurloz demonstrates the sign, but then does an additional one, crossing his middle finger over his pointer one. It's one he's used occasionally, to indicate someone he's close to that's not a quadrant, generally Meulin, by now.]

[Sufferer repeats the sign for friend, but looks confused at the next gesture.]

What does that one mean?

[He repeats both gestures several times, one then the other, then repeating. He's trying to show that he uses them interchangably.]

Do they mean the same thing? Two ways of saying friend?

[Sufferer can get behind that notion. There are different kinds of friends, there should be different words that mean almost the same thing.]

[He nods, and gives Sufferer a proud little smile.]

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